by Gene Wolfe

isbn: 0312863543
subject: SF, Fiction and Literature, Short Stories
finished: 11/13/1999

I have been infatuated with Wolfe's fiction since I first read The Book of the New Sun around five years ago. So, it is with trepidation that I begin a new book of his -- there are only so and so many left to read, after all. This collection contains fourteen stories; seven of them are masterpieces, the others are merely good. In general, the longer stories are better. Although he can make every word count, Wolfe's many-layered stories become too flattened when he spends less than 20 or 30 pages on them. The price of the book is justified by The Eyeflash Miracles and Seven American Nights alone; I highly recommend it.